Lie Detection Using Brain Scan Technology

Powerful lie detection tools may someday surpass the accuracy of the
polygraph and permanently change how suspects are convicted -- and
freed.

Imagine, a suspect is read words related to a crime while their brain
is being scanned. A computer analyzes the data and informs the examiner
if the suspect's memory holds information about the crime that only the
perpetrator could know. The suspect would not even have to speak, for
the examiner to know if the subject has exclusive knowledge of the
crime. The guilty could be clearly identified and the innocent would be
set free.

It's not science fiction. The technology and knowledge to scan your
brain for the truth is already here and it is improving rapidly. Today,
using current technology, a government can know with 90% accuracy if
the person they are holding in custody is a spy. And it is available to
the public. Finding out what happened in Vegas is now as easy as
getting your spouse to lie down on an examination bed. (hint: tell them it's a
massage table.)

I sincerely hope that when this technology arrives, it is offered as
a choice, like our current lie detection methods, for the accused to be
cleared of a crime--and the results are never revealed to a jury.

How will brain scan technology change society and our legal systems?
Clearly, public debate concerning the proper use of lie detection
technologies is needed to raise concerns about their premature and
inappropriate use.

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Welcome! FutureforAll.org is my personal web site about future technology and its affect on society. My hope is that this site will increase public awareness of rapidly advancing technologies and the social responsibility to make them available to all.